MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Two people were killed in a suspected drive-by shooting early Tuesday morning in the Brownsville area of Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade police say they responded to a ShotSpotter alert just before 1 a.m. in the 5200 block of Northwest 29th Avenue to find a silver BMW crashed into a fence and two people inside it with gunshot wounds.
A woman was declared dead at the scene. A man was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died from his injuries hours later, authorities say.
The victims have been identified as Lucretia Braithwaite and Johnnie Dixson Jr., both 19 years old.
Police had Northwest 29th Avenue blocked off from 51st Terrace to 52nd Street. Several evidence markers showed where shell casings were found.
Miami Dade homicide detectives on scene of a drive-by shooting on NW 29th Ave & NW 51st Terr. Two people dead as a result. Homicide detectives on scene. Every single evidence marker in this photo has a bullet shell casing next to it @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/xRM3ovdTcY
— Annaliese Garcia (@annalieseWPLG) June 8, 2021
Neighbors said the rapid gunfire sounded like a “war zone.”
“They’re keeping the police so busy that the police don’t have opportunity to catch them,” one neighbor said. “They [can’t] solve one murder before another murder is committed.”
This latest shooting comes as Miami-Dade leaders try to get control of gun violence that has drawn national scrutiny.
Tuesday afternoon, the Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously voted to approve a multi-million-dollar “Peace & Prosperity” gun violence prevention plan, which aims to tackle the root causes of gun violence with funding coming from the recent Miami Heat arena naming rights deal.
Police are requesting the public to help by disclosing any information that may lead to a suspect or arrest. You may call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305 471-TIPS.